


The Elite And The Bandit Brigade

by AdorableSlowbro



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Angels are angels, Merus is not able to show his emotions too well, Multi, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Romance is not Merus's Thing, Slow Burn, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23354149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdorableSlowbro/pseuds/AdorableSlowbro
Summary: Being on prison shift sucks. You have to do cell checks, make sure no one's doing anything harmful in any sense. Hardly action packed as actually arresting these people. Merus was trying to be nice to one prisoner. Just a small act of kindness. The consequences were lot more than what he bargained for. AU!
Relationships: Merus/Iwaza/, Merus/Kikaza, Merus/Miza
Comments: 3





	1. Chapter 1

3rd POV

Inside the cosmos in Universe Seven amongst the chaotic galaxy was a large station floating in the blackness. Closer inspection revealed the Galactic Patrol HQ, an organization that tried to put a cap on crime within their Universe, though they weren't powerful enough to be a nuisance to Frieza, they settled with going after criminal organizations who weren't under the tyrants' hand.

Even though Frieza's empire was struggling to regain forces, it was still not wise to go after his army given Frieza's reputation and attitude towards those who opposed his reign. Thankfully, their ship was heading in the opposite direction of Frieza, sticking to the safer sector of Universe 7.

It was a rare occasion, a once in the blue moon scenario. For the first time in….who knows how long, Merus had to check on the prisoner's cells individually, mainly to check if they were safe to themselves.

For safety concerns, all prisoners were kept in separate cells. Mainly to prevent any scheming for an escape attempt or the infighting that usually happened there.

Merus disliked this as it was rather lame in comparison to other parts of the job. It was a long distance from locking away criminals to checking on them after hours and making sure they weren't doing anything forbidden.

He went to check on the individual cells, examining them as he walked by. First there was the emotionless android 7-3, who's blank eyes gazed at him as he sat in his cell, following his movement without blinking.

Disturbed by this robotic mannerism, Merus quickly sped over to the next cell, seeing Shimorekka, who upon seeing the elite, stuck his tongue out in a provocative manner at him. The elite glared at him with disdain before moving past him."Disgusting…"

Numerous cell checks later, he got over to a cell with a blush colored female with over sized glasses. She had strawberry colored pigtails. Her royal blue prison outfit was torn to resemble shorts and had bandages resembling stockings on her legs with large black boots. She laid down in a curled up position, not even acknowledging his presence.

If he hadn't been the one to arrest her, he would have thought she was an innocent young woman. If he hadn't seen her attitude within a fight, you wouldn't believe she was a part of Saganbo's Galactic Bandit Brigade. She just had the looks to fool others for the most part along with her other female associates. Her name was..what was it? Oh, Iwaza.

Normally, he would've passed her, seeing as she was just another prisoner within their walls. He shouldn't be that concerned about an inmate, after all, they plenty of them.

However, the curled up position was unnatural and rather strange. Most prisoners were either sitting on their backs, or counting on their fingers to pass the time. She was simply on the ground in a fetal position as though she was in pain.

He hadn't done prison check often, but he knew Iwaza wasn't the type to lay around in a fetal position. She usually was very physically active given her occupation as a criminal.

He knocked on the glass."Is something the matter with you? Your position is unnatural."

"..." She slowly moved on her side, ignoring him. She didn't need to admit her problems to the person who arrested her, especially since this was cold and emotionless she was with.

Merus sighed."Iwaza, if you're going to ignore me, I will leave. I'm just asking for the sake of your well being and you refuse to cooperate."

No response. Merus scoffed."Tch! Fine, since you are stubborn and refuse my help."

Iwaza watched as Merus walked away from her cell. A few minutes later the lights turned off. She groaned to herself as she laid against the padded cell. It was time for them to go to sleep.

Everyone was fast asleep, but she couldn't go to bed. She was too hungry, her stomach kept bothering her anytime she tried to force herself to sleep, her hunger stabbed her awake.

She hadn't had anything to eat. That stupid gluttonous bear ate the food, Yunba ate so much that he forced food off of other prisoners , even though she was part of the Brigade too."Ugh….I'm starving…" She forced her eyes shut, even with the constant pangs of hunger bothering her.

Unknown to her, Merus was watching through the security system. One of his coworkers forgot to shut the light and he had come to turn it off. However his curiosity got the better of him, and decided to snoop onto the cameras and check on the prisoners. He got to her cell, noticing she hadn't fallen prey to slumber like her fellow criminals.

"That's strange. Everyone should be asleep…" He didn't require sleep due to his divinity, but it was strange given Iwaza's race required sleep regularly and that she was still twisting around in the cell.

For some reason, a small part of him felt pity for her. Though he wasn't certain what he could do in this position. She appeared to need food, though where could he get it from? He turned to his lunch box, he didn't require sustenance of any kind...so an idea came to mind.

Angels can eat...but it wasn't a requirement. His mind reminded him that he couldn't go around feeding prisoners or helping them, but his rational side faded as he stared at the iPad and back at the lunch box.

He could live without food, not like he liked eating much in the first place…

Begrudgingly, he grabbed the box and quietly snuck to her cell. He gently knocked on the glass between them, causing the female inmate to look towards him tiredly. She just managed to get to sleep and now she was being forced awake again, so her expression was irritated with silent anger.

"You again? What now? Can't you see I'm trying to get some shut-eye?

"Iwaza, do not give me that attitude. You should be thankful I even care enough to do this."

"Do what? Why are you even at my cell anyway?"

"I've reluctantly taken pity on your state. I'm not supposed to do this, however I'll make an exception this time."

He silently opened a compartment where approved items could be delivered to the prisoners(of course they had to be examined before delivery) and slipped the meal inside.

Her eyes widened, she hadn't had a decent meal in days! Her big break finally arrived at long last!

She grabbed the bag and began to eat it. Merus quickly turned his back, knowing that someone might notice him. She looked at Merus before lowly muttering."Thanks Officer..."

The darkness hid his stunned expression. That was the first time a prisoner said anything nice to him, it was a bit unsettling, but he had to admit it felt...welcoming for once.

While it did sound forced, it was better than her ignoring him,"Don't mention it to anyone. This is simply a rare occurrence." He said coldly.

He didn't like the idea of his comrades thinking he was getting soft. He still had a reputation to uphold.

"Whatever you say." She shrugged as Merus disappeared within the darkness. The small act of kindness was rare within a place like this, especially for an elite like Merus, to come to her cell of all places, and give her his lunch. She wasn't sure what to think of that to be honest.

All she knew was that Kikaza and Miza wouldn't believe this is she said it.


	2. Chapter 2

3rd POV

The next day arrived. Iwaza's eyes snapped open to the sound of ringing bells tolling throughout the prison. She groaned as she forced herself from her resting position.

She yawned, stretching her arms and legs."Another day of prison, can't wait…" At this point, she had been used to the daily schedule of prison. It was morning and the everyday schedule was to rush them to the showers before they did anything.

Of course they didn't release all the prisoners at once for practical reasons, so she had to wait for her side of the cell to open with the guards leading her like livestock. It took a few minutes for this to happen, as the glass wall to her cell finally slid open.

Foolish prisoners, like Shimorekka, would have tried to to take a chance and escape. This would have resulted in security going off and quickly being hauled off to a special containment cell.

Given all prisoner's by law, they were required to wear metallic braces on their legs that made movement above running difficult, also with the feature of marking their location at all times. Anyone straying farther from the horde would be brought back to square one.

She simply stood there, waiting for the random officer to come by. One of them came by and led her to the female showers, as for protocol, the showers were separated by gender for practical reasons.

Thankfully there was a bit of leeway, as male officers weren't allowed inside unless absolutely necessary. Mainly to prevent perverts from trying anything in the showers.

She entered inside. There were far less females than males within the facility, so the benefit was having more things. Sharing was a bit difficult but it was better than the male's showers, where infighting was a regular occurrence because it was packed in comparison to theirs.

She examined the showers, looking for a familiar face. She caught her break when she recognized the form of Kikaza. A cantaloupe colored woman wearing a black tube top with a perky chest and long sleeves. Her prison uniform had been wrapped around her waist like a jacket, wearing baggy pants and dark boots.

She had pointed ears and uneven hair, the left side of her hair was to her chest while the rest was to her scalp. The tiger orange hair made her stick out like a sore thumb.

Another member of Brigade that had been tossed in when Merus swooped in out of nowhere and arrested them without breaking a sweat.

Kikaza washed her hair, turning to her fellow inmate."Hey gurl, finally arrived?"

She began to bathe as well, they were used to seeing each other without clothing. "Unfortunately. Prison life treating you well?"

"Tch, it's passable. Wish they had more hair products, my hair is hard to maintain and they don't have the products to do it."

Iwaza shrugged,"I gave up maintaining my hair a while ago."

"Yeah, but unlike some people I'm not going to let my looks go down because I'm in prison. I'm still beautiful, and I'm not letting that go down the drain regardless of my location."

"Whatever you say," Iwaza muttered as they continue to bathe. She blinked as she noticed that Miza hadn't entered the showers."Hey Kikaza, where is Miza? I don't see her anywhere. She hasn't been her for a week."

Her friend was about to answer when suddenly a loud screaming was heard."I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOU! FUCK YOU, YOU CORRUPT ASSHOLES!"

"I believe that answers your question…"

A female with a black tank top and prison grab wrapped around her waist was abruptly shoved inside the showers, landing flat on her face. Her hair was messy and stuck upwards, it was long enough to reach her back. The sides of her head were shaved for it to resemble a mohawk. Her hair color was that of a bright fern color with tan skin. She had pointed ears and fierce golden eyes.

"Ah Miza, you're back from solitary confinement I see…I wonder how you got there."

"No reason."

Kikaza scoffed as she rinsed her hair."I'm sure your recent escape attempt had absolutely nothing to do with it…"

Iwaza sighed,"Escape is pointless with these braces on. You know that right? Why even bother?"

"Because I'm not the type to stay put and be complacent. What is wrong with you two?"

Kikaza gently brushed her hair, condescendingly replying to her leader,"Oh I'm sorry, it's just that escaping is pointless when you don't have the gang here. Even if you got out, I know damn well you can't fly a ship by yourself. Quoitur is the only one who knows how to fly a ship without getting caught early on."

She huffed, now washing her unkempt hair."At least I tried. Better than doing nothing."

"Whatever you believe Miza."

RING! RING! RING!

All female prisoners looked upward before quickly dressing themselves. The officers came in to drag Miza back to solitary confinement, dragging her back, ignoring the kicking and screaming.

"Kikaza, how long until they let her out completely?"

She placed her hands on her hips, shrugging her shoulders."She'll be fine, Iwaza. Miza is a tough cookie. They'll let her out of solitary eventually. Give it a month. Come on, lets go to breakfast."

The girls walked to breakfast. Miza due to her solitary confinement wasn't allowed to share lunch with her fellow prisoners, leaving her subordinates without her.

Iwaza sluggishly arrived to breakfast, a feeling of dread washing over her. She knew she and 'The Glutton' shared a lunch period.

She and Kikaza's faces lit up as they looked at the lunch room."We made it first! Come on, before he shows up."

She ran towards the trays and raced for the food items, piling them on her plate. She rushed back to a table.

Other prisoners entered as well. Both girls felt relief, maybe they'd finally get a chance of a full meal this time.

"Finally decent food! All of it is usually gone when he shows up." She began eating an apple, finally obtaining peace and quiet.

Suddenly what sounded like an elephant stomping on the ground became noticeable. Kikaza nearly chocking on her food as all prisoner's became frozen with dread.

A large obese panda bear towered over the scene. Nobody moved as Yumba waddled over to the counter. The poor officers pretty much hid behind the counter as without warning, he stole an entire section of food for himself and devoured it.

Kikaza's ears fell as he approached them,"Oh my god, here we go again."

The younger female nervously as Yumba looked at their plates, shrugged, before nonchalantly sitting down and devouring their meal.

Kikaza's face lit up with rage as her teammate ate everything,"Hey! Yumba, you just ate all our food! I get you're a bear and all, but you can't just eat everything!"

"Who says I can't?"

"Em..Well I do?"

Yumba let out a laugh,"Look Kikaza, I don't take orders from you. Just cause we're on the same team doesn't mean I have to share."

"But Saganbo-"

"Is Saganbo here? No. Meaning I don't have to listen to you."

All the prisoner's watched as he devoured all the food. Iwaza watched her breakfast go down the drain. And there was still lunch...

She couldn't do anything either. Nobody wanted to stand in the way of Yumba when he was hungry, friend or foe you were going to regret it. It was better to just suffer in silence than risk a hospital visit.

'Miza, I wish you were here...you'd know what to do.' She silently thought as she moved to the next period.


	3. Chapter 3

Iwaza groaned as she forced herself to next period, knowing it would be much longer and tedious. Without Miza they wouldn't dare stand up to Yumba, especially when he's hungry. She told herself to let it go, but the empty hole in her stomach persisted violently on.

At least Merus gave her food earlier, so it didn't feel like she was starving completely through work period.

She wondered if she could tell Kikaza. She decided to hold off due to how persistent Merus was about the issue on feeding her.

Given his status as an elite, it was heavily against the rules for him to feed her and it could get them both in boiling water. Besides, it was better off being between them given they were both opposite sides of the law.

Not to mention Miza would have a fit if she knew. She despised Merus just as much as Saganbo did, anything good about him would be seen as betrayal to the group.

Sure she disliked him heavily, but Saganbo was on another level with his hate. Those two were practically a power couple and damn near inseparable.

So for now, she decided to lay quiet and continue. Besides, it was probably just a one-time occurrence.

Work consisted primarily of doing chores or mining rocks to pass time. Given their strength smashing rocks was hardly difficult. But it got boring fast, thus she preferred a more artistic activity of making sculptures out of the rocks instead.

She got a pickaxe and got to work. And by work, I mean creating a sculpture out of the stone. Her mind drifted, as she couldn't pick what to sculpt. She noticed a flower in the distance and attempted to sculpt it.

She began picking away at the rock repeatedly, trying to mend the shape into something that resembled art.

Her mind went to food, imagining what it would have been like to actually eat breakfast instead of Yumba gorging himself on the cafe's food. Even as she continued picking, she couldn't get her mind off of the hunger, continuing to distract her from the focus.

She could really use an apple right now. How scrumptious it would be just to get a bite out of one right now.

She continued to pick, chipping away at the stone over and over, hoping for an amazing result in the end.

Kikaza went over to investigate her artwork,"Creating sculptures again, Iwaza?"

"Why not? We're stuck here so might as well satisfy my boredom! Besides, I might as well explore my creativity while imprisoned. What do you think!? Does it look good?"

"It looks...appetizing."

"What?" She turned around to her shock to see she had created an apple made out of didn't look like the flower she intended to create."Oops...That wasn't what I imagined my flower to look like."

"A flower? Well your appetite must be messing around with your brain. Can't say I blame you after...his little stunt back there."

"Hey, don't be like that. Maybe when Miza gets out of Solitary Confinement we can confront him together!"

She brushed her hair back, scoffing to herself."As if. We all know Yumba doesn't answer to anyone other than the big boss."

"Miza's fist says otherwise, but since she's not here we'll just have to settle with what we got. Have you made anything Kikaza?"

"Erm...I'm not artistically gifted in sculptures…." She pointed at the evenly chipped rock she had made within the hour, drawing back slightly as she held her pickaxe."Artistic talent isn't my specialty in this area."

They shared a laughter amongst each other before getting back to work. They were trying to maintain conversations as it wouldn't be long as this was the closest thing they had to a free period before lunch. They had been out here in space, mining over and over again.

"So what are you planning on getting for lunch?"

"The usual, air on a plate...Since that overweight bastard eats everything before we can get the chance." Kikaza muttered disdainfully, her lips forming to a snarl.

"I get that bears need to eat, but it's ridiculous he eats the entire lunch. Like we need to eat too, we're not androids or robots like some people."

"Yeah, but he won't listen to us, so why even bother? Next time we'll just have to get there faster or force what little food we can salvage."

The familiar sound of the alarm rang loudly in the distance, officers leading them to their next period continued. Kikaza narrowed her eyes as they went inside the lunch room, not even bothering to get a plate. Iwaza grumbled as they both sat down in silence, knowing the usual routine.

The only good thing about this period was that Shimorekka was here. Saganbo, Seven Three, and the rest of the gang had different lunch and breakfast periods.

As much of an obnoxious asshole he was, he usually was the type to tell Yumba not to eat every single thing in sight. Even then, the short alien knew better to get on his friend's bad side.

All the prisoners backed away from Yumba and Shimorekka. Shimorekka didn't require that much food given his size, so he ate what he could. It was mostly Yumba eating the piles and piles of food that was taking up the table.

Nobody at the counter had the spine to tell him no, after all. Not that you could blame them given they'd get their neck snapped.

Shimorekka took notice of their presence."Hey girlies, long time no see. What's with the sour face Kiki, anger doesn't fit you babe."

Kikaza,'s eye twitched,"Not in the mood Shimorekka. You know damn well what this is about, so cut the chase and hand us some food. I haven't had a single damn thing to eat all day."

"I mean if you're going to act like a bitch about it, then why should I?"

"Oh my god, I'm going to rip those tentacle things from your head if you don't give us some of that food. It wouldn't kill Yumba to share, he's already big enough as it is."

"What did you say?" Yumba suddenly stopped eating and got up in her face, food flowing from his mouth. Kikaza's face distorted into one of utter disgust. There was about to be rumble given enough time, even if she wasn't strong enough on her own to win, she would give him a fight.

"You heard me."

"Yumba, she didn't mean anything. She's just being grumpy. Now please back off, we don't need this at lunch…" Iwaza was forcing herself to sound as sweet as heavenly possible.

Reluctantly the bear backed off, now focusing on the food. The short gremlin scoffed before handing Iwaza a small portion of food. It was small enough to where Yumba wouldn't have a fit over it. Shimorekka didn't want to evoke his wrath upon himself. If you were standing between Yumba and his appetite you'd be begging for broken bones.

Iwaza was about to eat the apple she managed to get, but noticed that her friend was leaning on the table, covering her head. The bell eventually rang, and before they left, Iwaza didn't take a bite out of her food. Instead, she gave it Kikaza.

"Thanks…"

"No problem, I felt like you needed it more. I wasn't that hungry anyway…"

"How? You didn't eat anything yesterday? Just not feeling it?"

"No...My stomach must've just felt better today." She ignored the pain and smiled, hoping that her friend wouldn't notice her hunger.

"Hey you two, get back to your cells! It's closing time! Chop Chop! Move it, move it!"

"We're leaving officer," The pig tailed female replied, before waving her friend farewell.

Iwaza sighed as she entered her cell, hearing the glass automatically shut behind her. She adjusted her glasses as she ignored the gaping hole in her stomach. Another day, another deeper hole of hunger within. Kikaza at least would be thankful, but now she was probably going to be hungry all over again.

It hurt. Trying to go to sleep while it felt like being punched in the gut. Even as the lights went out focusing on sleep was damn near impossible. It felt like utter hell trying to get some shut eye. She twisted, she turned, she did everything in her power to resist the pain to no avail.

What felt like an hour passed, despite it only being thirty minutes at the most, a sound snapped her out of her hungered daze. She lazily opened one eye at the sound of glass being knocked on, she looked up to see a figure at the door. It was him again wasn't it? At least she didn't have him at the day shifts.

"Oh, it's you...What do you want?"

She couldn't see it clearly, but she could've sworn Merus rolled his eyes. He gave her the bag before muttering."Be thankful I'm doing this twice, giving food to your kind is strictly forbidden and heavily reprimanded."

Iwaza sighed,"I've heard. But the food is welcome, so I don't see the problem with it."

"You still haven't told me why you're this hungry in the first place. You've never had these problems last I checked. What is wrong?"

This again? Why was he so pushy about questions?

"..."

"Ah, I see. Still won't tell me? Strange of you, though I doubt you trust me, so that may be contributing to the issue."

She scoffed, of course she didn't trust him. No amount of food was going to change that."No duh. You're the one who arrested me."

"You were committing a crime with your gang, it was a requirement by law to arrest you. Do not blame me for you ending up behind a cell, Iwaza. It is not I who is to blame for that."

"Tch. Nevertheless, I'm….pleased you care enough to feed me for whatever reason. I don't know or trust your intentions, but I'm thankful it's edible."

Merus quickly stifled his laughter,"Ha, Iwaza, don't be ridiculous. If I wanted anything from you, I would've done something a while ago...This is just me being kind. Be glad I'm this patient with you."

"Not sure if that's a good thing or not to be honest. Besides, how long do you plan on doing this?"

"However long it takes for you to be honest and tell me what's the problem? I mean, unless you enjoy my presence or what not."

"As if. Besides, what if I don't want you at my cell talking to me?"

"Do you want food? I can easily stop visiting you at any time, I do this out of kindness not out of duty."

"..."

"Thats what I thought you'd say. If I'm allowed to keep these conversations with you in return for food, I believe that's a small price to pay is it not? My company cannot possibly be that unbearable is it?"

'Almost unbearable,' Iwaza thought."You got yourself a deal."


	4. Chapter 4

The moment the deal had been made, Iwaza knew she had set herself up for a big tidal wave of trouble. Not only was the man who arrested her now taking an interest in her well being, but now if she wanted decent food she was going to have to interact with him as repayment for the food.

Saying that she was suspicious was an understatement.

Honestly she was shocked Merus was willing to give his lunch away to her for mere talking, but food was food. At least he wasn't a completely heartless monster like she thought earlier. Though she wasn't sure where his intentions lied and she honestly was wary of him.

As the schedule went by, the days of seeing Miza were lessened. Miza was going to be within Solitary Confinement for a month at the bare minimum, by then they'd have to adjust the schedules as they would no doubt be new prisoners coming in to murk up the times.

The officers wanted to lessen her interaction with other prisoners as Miza became rapid when they dragged her to places. Even had to take showers earlier to prevent her from seeing them.

Hopefully when Miza is out they'll have a new schedule. The chance of sharing lunches given the new influx of prisoners would boost her chances.

She missed Miza's presence, as hotheaded and brash as she may be, she was still the leader of their girl squad. Probably the only one Yumba would listen to outside of Saganbo, but given that she honestly didn't see him in any periods it was doubtful she could get his help on this.

Until they could get the hotheaded girl's presence back, they were stuck bending over to accommodate Yumba's will, given nobody dared to stand up to him when it came to hunger that they'd risk starvation not to end up in the medical room.

At least Merus's meals were filling to an extent, so she wasn't collapsing out of exhaustion or something during work hours. Surprisingly he could carry a conversation, but every time the hunger question came she dodged as it would be ratting out her comrades. Yumba was a team member, regardless of how much of an ass he was.

She found herself back at the mines, roll call went as per usual once they arrived. Honestly she didn't feel like stressing herself out and decided to conserve by lazily tipping at the rocks. They were stationed farther back, so the officer's weren't able to see what they were doing as easily.

Kikaza found time within the mine to do her makeup, as shower time was mainly about keeping her appearance up."Doing your makeup in a time like this Kiwi? And you spent all the time in shower doing your hair…"

"What? I can't look ugly while I'm mining. We all got our roles here in this group we got to fulfill. I have to maintain myself."

"Like what?"

She brushed her lips with chocolate colored lipstick that she snuck inside the prison. She had snuck in makeup and hair supplies before her arrest. What? A lady had to always be prepared.

"Easy, I'm the attractive femme fatale, you're the dorky innocent girly girl, and Miza's the hotheaded alpha bitch who asserts her dominance over others."

The younger inmate laughed at her description,"Innocent is a bit of a stretch but Miza is pretty accurate to be honest."

"What? I mean, I know as the leader you expect some brashness and snark but you have to admit she's rough around the edges. She's very unladylike to be honest. It wouldn't kill her to do her hair, it's so messy and unkempt. I don't understand how she lives with herself."

"I mean, Miza isn't about her appearance honestly. Beauty has never been her main priority, like as long as she isn't losing her athletic physique she doesn't care what she looks like. She prefers to let her fists do the talking for her."

"I mean it's Miza, what do you expect? She isn't much for her appearance honestly. She's' the tomboy out of all of us. Speaking of appearance, can I borrow some lipstick if you have any on you? Mine ran out ages ago?"

"Hmm, alright let me see if I have one that fits you ...Ah here, I never use this one. It doesn't fit my perfect hickory complexion. Your skin is more akin to a blush color, so taffy will suit you better."

The younger brigade member smiled."Thanks, Kiwi."

"No problem Izzie. When it comes to beauty supplies and makeup I'm the lady you should call. Doing makeup when you don't need to focus on eating your next meal helps."

"So what you're saying is that you use your cell time to do your makeup?"

"Hell yeah, I have nothing better to do while I'm stuck in a moving spaceship floating about."

The bell suddenly rang. Breakfast and Lunch went just as expected. They managed to get a limited amount of food, but it wasn't a lot considering what they were used to eating. Given it was the weekday they had an extra period to make up for the busy schedule on weekends.

"Hey Kiwi, whatcha doing?" Iwaza asked, carving some doodles into the walkway after they were released from Lunch.

She looked up from her nails, measuring them to her hand before offering it up."Filing my nails. Why, you want it?"

"My nails are just fine. What do you think of my drawing?" The pig-tailed female presented her doodle of a sunset. Given her limited materials, using pieces of chalk she managed to sneak into the prison. Sometimes the police officer's were incompetent, so they didn't notice the small things the inmates snuck in for entertainment.

"Pretty nice, where'd you get the chalk from?"

"Remember the planet we raided that had all those treasures and stuff? I managed to find some chalk. I know we're not allowed, but who cares? I like drawing and it helps pass the time in this awful place."

The darker alien scoffed,"I mean, we're not breaking the rules if we don't get caught…"

She snickered."True,"

Suddenly an officer came over and motioned for Iwaza to come over. The pig-tailed inmate sluggishly came over."Iwaza, you know you aren't supposed to have drawing utensils. Hand them over so I can confiscate them."

"Why should I?" She asked bitterly."I didn't draw anything negative or anything. It's just a sunset."

"Rules are rules ma'm. We can't take any risks."

'Yeah, and the other inmates having other things get unnoticed, but my chalk is somehow the issue.' "Yeah right."

"Just hand it over Iwaza, you wouldn't want any trouble do you?"

"No…" She solemnly handed her source of entertainment over. Her friend gave her a look of sympathy as the chalk was taken away.

Iwaza cringed at her upset expression,"Sorry about that girl, some officers are assholes about those rules.."

She sighed,"It's not that big of a deal. I'll find something else to do. Besides, I have paper in my room, so I'm not completely bored…" She said quietly as she walked back to her cell, the officer's leading them back to their prison rooms.

Iwaza was led to her cell and she entered, watched the glass close behind her. Time for bed would come eventually, but she didn't feel like resting. Instead, ignoring her hunger, she pulled out a journal and pen that she snuck in, drawing and doodling whatever her mind could think of.

There had already been multiple abandoned drawings, mostly of herself and the other inmates from who she could see from her high view of the prison. Sometimes she drew the prison, other times she drew her cell or the lunch area.

At the moment, she was filled with frustration over the past few days, and drew a simplified drawing of Yumba stuffing his face with everyone being dismayed, the officer taking her chalk, and Miza being missing from the group. Everything that set her off that she kept under wraps.

"You like drawing Iwaza?"

She jumped out of her bed, whipping around to see Merus's shadow illuminated from the light near her , she forgot about him until now!

Merus narrowed his eyes as he could see her stuffing her journal inside her drawer before turning to face him.

"Sort of."

"You seemed to have a lot of pages, have you finished any of your drawings lately?"

"No, my motivation is lacking so I haven't really finished…"

"Can I see them?"

"No!" Merus blanked at her raising tone before she shrunk back"...I mean, no. None of them are finished yet."

The elite doubted the reason heavily, but decided not to press her on the subject for now. The journal was valuable, but he could wait. He doubted she'd hand it over without a scene, especially since he wasn't supposed to be here.

Gaining trust was the first priority.

"Tch. If you say so. Though I'm curious, prisoners actually do things here?"

She dryly laughed."Yeah? I mean, it's boring here. We have to entertain ourselves somehow."

"It's just that I've never seen anyone draw in their cell before."

"I've been drawing ever since I got here. Before the cells got extra padded I used to doodle on the first layer. The officers didn't appreciate my doodles though."

"Can I see one?" Merus pondered.

She was reluctant, but remembering Merus's position of power, she passed an old drawing through the slot.

Merus examined it, it was a picture of her and her girl squad. It was fairly well drawn and proportionately accurate."Not bad. Though Miza's face is fairly relaxed given her..terrible attitude."

The criminal snickered at Merus's critique."I know, Miza can be something, but she's not that bad when she's not a total bitch."

"My comrades say otherwise, they say she's like a rapid animal. Not that I can blame them given her willingness to injure officers and act violently when confined."

"Eh, that's Miza for ya. She can be like that sometimes. She's alright once she's calm and collected."

"Calm and collected. Do you really believe that is within her emotional vocabulary? I refuse to believe that…"

"Merus I get she's not the nicest person but she is capable of being calm and rational. Sometimes."

"Tch. I'll believe it when I see it." He then handed her a bag of food. It was refreshing since she had anything to eat outside of this.

"Erm..Thanks for the talk..and the food."

"I don't fall back on promises that easily. I did give you my word. Besides, you need it more than I do by the looks of it. Though I should get going, I can't allow anyone to see me giving you food for appearances sake."

"I know. But thanks for caring. Nobody usually cares about us, so it's nice to see someone who does. You didn't have to do this." The words were slow, but genuine. She didn't forget her arrest by his hand, thus giving thanks took some effort emotionally.

"I'm just being nice. Besides, compared to your…'friends' you are tolerable. Certainly better than Shimorekka…"

She nodded,"He's not the brightest out of the bunch."

Merus scoffed,"Mild way of saying he's unintelligent but go on. Anyhow, I'll take my leave."

She turned over in her bed."Night officer."

A part of her hated to admit it, but he was growing on her. They won't be friends anytime soon(not a chance in hell) but she would be lying if his company wasn't...refreshing. Maybe he did have something resembling a heart.


End file.
